Konjac glucomannan

Glucomannane de konjac

What it is

The flour is milled from the corm of a woodland aroid whose flower smells of carrion, and it is said to have reached Japan from China around the sixth century as a medicine rather than a food. It is very nearly pure fibre: the gel it sets carries almost no calories, which is how the same powder ends up in slimming noodles and in the konnyaku block sold beside the tofu.

In the kitchen

It needs alkali as well as heat: whisk 2 g into 200 ml of water, let it swell half an hour, stir in a pinch of slaked lime or sodium carbonate, then hold it above 70°C. The gel that forms will never melt again, so decide the shape before you set it.

Goes with

Soy sauce Kombu Miso Sesame Ginger Chili pepper Katsuobushi (dried bonito)

Same species

Konnyaku

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